EVM row likely to become a big talking point tomorrow.
The Congress Wednesday dubbed the Election Commission as "Enfeebled Commission" after the poll body was learnt to have rejected the opposition parties' demand for pre-verification of VVPATs with EVMs while counting and said it was a "black day" for democracy.
Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi asked on what basis the commission had arrived at the decision as the Supreme Court ruling on VVPAT counting did not come under Rule 56-D as cited by it.
He also questioned whether the EVMs were "electronic victory machines" for the BJP and the Model Code of Conduct was "Modi's Campaign Code", alleging that the poll body had succumbed to the pressure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.
As the row over the Electronic Voting Machines(EVM) persisted and opposition workers at several places kept a tight vigil at strongrooms storing them, the EC decided to follow the established procedure of counting VVPAT slips for the mandatory five polling stations per assembly segment of each parliamentary constituency only at the end of the entire counting process.
The Opposition approached the EC on Tuesday to demand that the five random VVPATs in each Assembly segment should instead be counted first so that if there is a problem or a mismatch, the entire slips can be counted from the beginning itself.
Shah slams doubters:
Slamming the opposition parties, he said in tweets that they started protesting against EVMs only after the sixth of the seven-phase polling and intensified it after exit polls.
"How can you question EVMs credibility on the basis of exit polls?" he asked.
He termed as unconstitutional the demand of the opposition parties that the EC change its counting protocol and count five random VVPATs first, saying any decision in this regard is not possible without an all-party consensus.
Shah said the Supreme Court has given a final shape to electoral process by hearing three PILs and asked if the opposition is raising questions on the apex court.
Though the EC made it clear to the 22 opposition parties on Tuesday that the old protocol for counting the paper slips will continue, its top officials met Wednesday and decided against making any last-minute changes to the way they are to be tallied.
Counting of votes will be taken up on Thursday amid exit poll predictions that the BJP-led NDA will retain power.
1. What is Congress claim
2. Poll body has no logistical reason to reject demand, says Singhvi
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Addressing a press conference, Singhvi said though the Congress or any other party had not received any reply or order from the EC on their complaints, the poll body has no logistical reason to reject the demand as it entails no extra time or burden on it.
"Has the Model Code of Conduct become 'Modi's campaign code' and EVMs 'electronic victory machines' for the BJP. Has the Election Commission become 'Enfeebled Commission' or is it 'Eradicated Commission' or 'Eliminated Commission' as it has succumbed to the pressure of PM and Amit Shah," he claimed.
The Congress leader also alleged that the EC had adopted "discriminatory" standards, "one for the aam aadmi (common man) and the other for two people, who are above the law -- the prime minister and Amit Shah".
Questioning what could be the possible ground for rejection of the opposition's demand, Singhvi said they have only asked for random checking of VVPATs at the beginning of counting so that a sample can be checked.
Asked whether the Congress will move court against the EC's decision, Singhvi asked, "Why should we?" He indicated that there was no enough time left to move the court. "We are appealing to the court of people. We have fought a clean battle. There is no time to go anywhere," he said, adding that the EC's decision had given rise to suspicion about its functioning.
Singhvi said the demand made by the opposition was only to reinforce the credibility of EVMs and that of the EC.
3. EC sticks to its plans
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The Election Commission is learnt to have stuck to its plan of counting the paper trail machines slips at the end of counts and not in the beginning as demanded by opposition parties.
It is also learnt to have decided to count postal ballots simultaneously with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) count due to the "sheer size" of the ballots received this time from service voters.
Till now, the postal ballots were counted in the beginning followed by votes polled in voting machines.
4. Yechury slams EC
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CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday said the Election Commission's rejection of the Opposition demand to first count the VVPAT slips went against the "spirit" of a Supreme Court order on the devices.
Yechury's reaction comes after the commission is learnt to have stuck to its plan to count the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips in the end and not in the beginning as demanded by the Opposition.
"This goes against the spirit of the Supreme Court Order on VVPATs delivered before polling began," Yechury tweeted.
"If the process has been so long drawn for the sake of integrity of the electoral process, why is (the) EC not adhering to the basic principle of testing the sample first?" the Left leader asked.
